So what's in a name ? Quite a lot when it comes to football grounds. For a supporter the name of a stadium or its location, which sometimes serves as a name, is etched as deep on the soul as the team that plays there. Memories of the Kop, the North Bank, the Shed, the Chicken Run or whatever are precious even though many of these gathering places have long since been bulldozed to oblivion.

If Mike Ashley, the power at Newcastle United, was not previously aware of this, the gap in his education has quickly been filled. Ashley and his associates have decreed that for the next six months Newcastle will no longer be playing at St James' Park but at something called sportsdirect.com@StJames'ParkStadium. Sports Direct is Ashley's company and it is hoped that this will attract new sponsors, possibly from the far east, in which case the ground could become the Sony Bravia Arena or some such.

Needless to say Tyneside fans are further up in arms about the running of the club since Ashley took control two years ago, accusing him of caring nothing about Newcastle's history. According to Steve Wraith, the editor of Players Inc fanzine: "It's not something you can come in and tweak." None of which is likely to make much of an impression on the man in charge. Ashley will tweak on regardless.

The successful modern businessman needs a thick skin and in Newcastle's case should be up there with a T rex. It is hard to think of a title more likely to offend supporters unless it had been decided to rechristen the ground the Dennis Wise Memorial Coliseum. Then again it is primarily a commercial move. The media are unlikely to swallow the new mouthful in reporting Newcastle's matches; St James' Park will still be St James' Park unless someone forgets and calls it St James's Park. And fans rarely mention the title of a stadium in conversation anyway. They just talk about going to a game (unless, of course, Newcastle are visiting Sunderland in which case their followers tell people they are going to the Stadium of Shite).

Nevertheless, the idea of tinkering with a football name which has been around a long time will usually rankle, as Chelsea may discover if they do decide that in future they will be playing at Samsung Stamford Bridge. On the other hand giving a sponsor's moniker to a newly built ground is different and for football followers such names have become more readily associated with the teams than the product. Think of the Emirates and you think of Arsenal rather than a Middle East airline. The Reebok is about Bolton Wanderers rather than tracksuits. For reporters, Hull City play at the KC Stadium rather than the Kingston Communications Stadium.

Originally the names of football grounds did not exercise the minds of clubs and supporters to the extent that they do now that the matter has become commercially significant. When Newcastle West End and Newcastle East End joined forces to become Newcastle United they agreed to play at the former's Town Moor ground, which from then on was known as St James' Park. When West Ham moved to their present venue early in the last century they decided to call it the Boleyn Ground because there was a property known as Boleyn Castle next door. But for the football world in general West Ham play at Upton Park. Tottenham play at White Hart Lane and in the minds of many will continue to do so even when the new stadium, which may well carry a sponsor's logo, is built nearby. Yet in its early days Spurs' home was known as the High Road Ground, which would be particularly apt now given the regularity with which the High Road traffic grinds to a halt on match days.

Derby County used to play at the Baseball Ground because that was the sport played there originally. The name of its successor, Pride Park, is relevant only as a reminder of what goeth before a fall. Even so this Park is more comfortable than the parks of Burnden, Roker, Ayresome and others used to be. Standing on a rain-soaked terrace in January being pushed and pummelled by a howling mob was about the least park-like experience that anyone could imagine. Yet none of these places suffered the indignity of being relabelled as an email address. Vulgarising St James' Park, even for six months, is a bit like insisting that Buckingham Palace should henceforth be known as liztwo@buckhouse.com.